from the censorhsip-is-fun dept

Thanks to tremendous pressure from the US entertainment industry and the US government, Spain passed the Sinde law, putting in place a Spanish version of SOPA that creates a blacklist of naughty sites to be burned at the stake... or, failing that, have access blocked by ISPs. The Sinde law has been in effect for a month, and Spain's Ministry of Culture has admitted to receiving over 300 complaints calling for the death of 79 sites. The copyright commission is investigating the allegations and has not yet shut down any sites. Either way, this gives you a sense of the entitlement feeling of many in the industry. Given the chance (and the original SOPA gave them the chance), they will claim all sorts of horrible things about very useful services -- and then order them shut down. We know, for a fact, that takedown systems like the DMCA get regularly abused. Expanding such powers by allowing for the complete closure of sites is something that will be widely abused too. Complaints targeting so many sites upfront certainly suggests that the law itself is quite problematic.

Make no mistake about it. This new law is a censorship law, that allows private parties to make claims that could lead to competitors being knocked offline. The Spanish public was against it, as were many politicians. But the supporters of the bill finally got it through, and the fallout is a big bureaucracy and lots of accusations flying -- accusations that may never be dealt with in a real trial. Letting private companies effectively run a system for censorship, and seeing it being used in action, should worry most people. Unfortunately, "most people" seems to exclude the big copyright industry players and the politicians they love.

flood

"The Sinde law has been in effect for a month, and Spain's Ministry of Culture has admitted to receiving over 300 complaints calling for the death of 79 sites"

You make it sound like they were trying to hide the numbers. Seems like a pretty reasonable count for the initial 30 day period. That means on average about 4 complaints per site. Doesn't seem like just random moves, does it?

SIGH

I just...I'm sick of it. I don't watch TV any more. I don't watch movies any more. I don't go get new music. I don't buy new books, I just go to the library.

I used to like watching some TV shows when I had the time. I used to like taking my girlfriend to the movies or buying movies for us to watch. I used to like finding new music. I used to like filling up my bookshelves. I can't let myself do any of those things anymore. All of this money-grabbing greed-driven fucking bullshit has simply put me off of almost all media.

And you know what? It's the best goddamned thing I could have ever done for myself. My girlfriend and I take our library books to the park and read them. We hike. We go see live theater. It's wonderful. I've lost 12 pounds. My girlfriends buttcheeks firmed up.

the law was introduced and basically forced through by a politician that is also a member of the entertainment industries. BIG MISTAKE! the US threatened trade sanctions against Spain and inclusion on the 301 list. disgraceful! the people were ignored, as usual. despicable! the new government were against the law until they were elected. less than three months later, i believe, they not only reintroduced the law but passed it as well, ie, deceived the people until they were in power. disgusting!

AND NO SITES HAVE BEEN TAKEN DOWN
they are being looked into, you said it yourself, so how is this abuse??? censorship?????

IT ISN'T, its you making up a sky is falling story to justify your position, which is becoming laughable
you have an entitlement feeling about anything you don't agree with is censorship and evil and everything must be free....

"Either way, this gives you a sense of the entitlement feeling of many in the industry."

I guess if by "entitlement" you mean demanding the ability to stop people from stealing your shit then I guess they are acting entitled. As opposed to the "Entitled Generation" who feel that they are entitled to download music even if it is from illegal sources, download movies from illegal sources, and download cracked games from illegal sources.

"This new law is a censorship law, that allows private parties to make claims that could lead to competitors being knocked offline."

When you are competing against your own product offered illegally for free it really isn't competition is it?

Re: SIGH

I've also stopped going to the movies and watching episodic TV. Most of what I watch on my TiVo comes from the web (TWiT, TED, Rev3, several YouTube channels , etc.) rather than cable, which I only keep because I'm too big a sports fan to let it go completely. (Though I am weighing some options on this end.)

However, as a longtime music podcaster who *does* seek out music from small indie labels and unsigned artists to share with people, I'd be remiss if I didn't suggest giving indie music podcasts a try, because there's LOTS of great music out there that has no ties to big media. Start at musicpodcasting.org and go from there. You'll be glad you did.

Re: Re:

If they are found innocent their sites will be restored. This has happened in the past. This is no different than the cops seizing equiptment from a SUSPECTED meth lab, or impounding a car used in a robbery. Notice how something is temporarily seized BEFORE someone is proven guilty. This is commonplace in law enforcement.

This is news?

Not that I support what is being done, but those numbers actually seem a little underwhelming.

First of all, the laws are new and it is likely that these 79 sites were being watched by various copyright holders prior to the passage of the law. In fact, their activities likely provided the motivation for pursuing the law in the first place.

As such, if they did not update their site to become compliant with the new law, it stands to reason that they would be targeted right away.

Further, as to the sheer number, this site has mentioned the whack-a-mole effect a number of times. In that instance, the industry is going to have a lot of targets.

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And in the meantime it's perfectly acceptable for them to suffer loss of business, earnings or reputation on the say-so of someone who could all too easily?

Forget patent wars, get your competitors' sites taken down!

If all that is triggered by this process is an investigation of those sites, but they are allowed to continue as is, then great. If they are taken down in the interim, espcially if it is over the actions of third parties, then no, that's not good. And we have yet to see a law of this sort that isn't abused by the content crybabies. They'll find some loophole to use to persecute those sites they don't like and keep pounding until they think they've got their way. Then they'll ramp things up more, or buy some more laws.

Re: SIGH

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The suspected meth lab is losing business. The suspected robber is losing the use of his car. It's the same thing. If they were allowed to continue to offer pirated content then the policing agencies would be allowing crime to continue. What you are asking is that the meth lab continue to be allowed to make meth and the robber be continued to rob until his/her court date. It makes NO SENSE!